First off, I'm very new at this. I realise that hand size gizzard shad are probably the best striper bait I could get this time of year, but the baitfish in Allatoona are all really small due to the huge winter kill. I can catch a dozen or so hand sized and down bream in about an hour or so on worms.

Do you prefer bream to jumbo shiners? Most people I have spoken with definitely do. Do you cut the dorsal fins off your bream? Are spot tails big enough for striper bait? I can definitely cast net a bunch of them. I'm not getting bit much. Lost a monster last weekend on a really big bream and am addicted to the hunt now.

Finally, do you go where you suspect the fish to be and then drop lines or do you wait until you're directly on top of them to drop down.

So far I've only been fishing two lines, but I'm about to attach two more rod holders to my boat so I can put baits at more depths. Thanks so much.

You need to be around fish. They usually hang around bait. Without a good depthfinder on the right settings, it's pretty hard to chase the deep fish this time of year. The hybes will come up and show themselves in the morning and perhaps in the evening, but they won't stay up long until it cools off a little. Last August/September was awesome for breaking fish out there.

If I can't get shad, I don't usually fish live bait. I have spent thousands of hours learning how and where to get shad if that helps you out any. It's a HARD fish to catch sometimes and requires LOTS of patience, infomation, and experience to be regularly successful.

A good guide can (and will) show you the ropes if you're interested in cutting years off the learning curve and have the cash to spare. If your guide won't show you what you want to know, and answer all of your questions, he's not a good guide.

The fish will eat your bream with or without dorsal all the same. They are predators and prey on every fish in the lake. If you put it down in front of a hungry fish and they can fit it in their mouth, you'll get bit. As far as techniques, anchoring up and fishing bottom, slow trolling with downlines (1-3 oz of weight) or weighted flatlines (1/4 oz or less), or trolling artificials like bucktails on leadcore or umbrellas are all effective. It just depends on what YOU want to do to catch fish.

Read some reports and gather intel. Hire a guide if you can/want to. Pay attention to your electronics and the fish's depth. Where the thermocline meets points is a good bet. The fish in Toona stay on the move, but they frequent the same areas until their climate changes.

"where the thermocline meets a point" just explained something to me about East Fork Lake here in SW Ohio.
The Hybes stack up on this point with deep canyons on either side, Now I understand better why.
Thanks for the tip!
LMJ

BTW, just started fishing this lake after buying new Ocean Kayak 2.5 seater, and making progress._________________Headed to the Cross.......

We fished about 2 weeks ago with BBs and a few bream (Lake Murray, SC). Our better bites came on bream, but I would've preferred large gizzard shad (mostly unavailable on Lake Murray,.. at least for me ). I've also considered white bass for bait, but haven't tried it yet.

We fished about 2 weeks ago with BBs and a few bream (Lake Murray, SC). Our better bites came on bream, but I would've preferred large gizzard shad (mostly unavailable on Lake Murray,.. at least for me ). I've also considered white bass for bait, but haven't tried it yet.

H&T

H&T,

Ive not tried white bass for bait, but have used both white and yellow perch, along with bream with good success on Murray._________________Rick
Lake Murray, SC

I have never had luck with bluegills since bream are far and few between here in pa. One of the best local guides swears that in one of his honey holes the stripers ocassionally have blue gill in their bellys. very strange since anywhere in our lake bait like shad and alewife are more than abundant. I suspect this honey hole is where a clear non muddy cold stream runs into the lake from the mountains that surround us._________________Team-Time Bandits a.k.a. (team no sleep)

I've had luck with gills, but it can be hit or miss. Used them last week for a day, while also mixing in some shiners and the fish wouldn't touch em. Pulled em up and down rigged after two short fish on shiners. Used gizzards the few days and we would limit in no time with 30" plus fish. It's always better to use the native food source if you can get it, keep it, and fish with it longer than 10 minutes.

That is years of experience talking right there. It doesn't take much to tell who does their homework... _________________Shawn McNew
Seein Stripes Guide Service
UT Wildlife Fisheries Science
Georgia Forestry Commission